flgreen Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 Ropati’s Feeling Fine, Getting Down on the DL Posted by Randy Lange on August 10, 2011 – 1:03 pm Ropati Pitoitua may be talking these days about being low, but that’s purely in the physical, not the emotional sense. “I’ve been working on getting my pads low and staying low,” Pitoitua, the 6’8″, 315-pound defensive end, said this week. “My height is an advantage and a disadvantage also. I’m tall, taller than everybody else. I have to work on staying low. “I have a saying about line play: The low man wins.” But Pito is not down about where’s he’s at heading into this season. The Achilles tendon he tore in the second preseason game at Carolina last year is back. He says so, but most importantly, the Jets’ trainers and medical staff say so. “I talked to John Mellody heading into it,” DC Mike Pettine said of the Jets head trainer. “I had asked him, ‘Who do we have to watch heading into it?’ We figured Jim Leonhard, we assumed Ropati, but John said, “No, he’s full-go.” … Ropati’s doing well. He’s a guy who gives us a little insurance.” “Sometimes you have to see how he does,” head coach Rex Ryan said of players with such a devastating injury, “but Ropati hasn’t missed a beat. He looks terrific out there.” “I feel great,” Pitoitua said. “I feel like I am [100 percent]. I feel like I’m getting there. I’ve still got stuff to work on.” The work the big Samoan by way of Washington State was doing last year up until the ugly 9-3 win over the Panthers last Aug. 21. “It really hurts,” Rex said at the time of the tear. “He played about 150 snaps or something like that the year before. It showed a big, huge guy that can run and play hard. He did a lot of good things. You just saw him improving.” The long rehab is over. Without the injury, Pitoitua could well have been the starting candidate at DE this year. But with the uncertainty over his return, the Jets drafted Muhammad Wilkerson 30th overall and Mo has looked every bit the new stud starter at the position. Suffice it to say that the presence of those two made it possible (although no less painful to Ryan, the Jets staff and Green & White fans) to let Shaun Ellis go as an unrestricted free agent. “I think it’s a lot to ask of Muhammad to come in and play every snap as a rookie,” Pettine said this week. “I think Ropati is going to be one of those guys who isn’t a big name for us but is just going to step up and be a big part of what we do. I think that defensive line prides themselves on being no-names. They like to call themselves ‘the Journeymen.’ I think he’s obviously a big part of that group.” “We have a great group of guys,” Pitoitua said. “All the young guys are stepping up. I’m really excited working with these guys.” Not to mention seeing how high he can go while trying to win the DL limbo award by going as low as he can go. Super Group Standout wideout Isaac Bruce has left Jets training camp now, but he was an invited guest for the start of camp by Ryan and the Jets staff, especially WRs coach Henry Ellard, who coached Bruce with the Rams. Bruce imparted some valuable instruction to the Jets’ receivers young and old in his time in North Jersey. And for a small window last week, three of the most distinctive pass catchers in NFL annals were standing together on the practice fields of the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. Four players have caught passes in the last two minutes of Super Bowls to lift their teams from behind or from a tie to the game-winning score. Bruce, Plaxico Burress and Santonio Holmes are the last three players to achieve that. Bruce’s 73-yard catch-and-sprint from Kurt Warner came with 1:54 to play in Super Bowl XXXIV to break a 16-16 tie and give the Rams their 23-16 lead that held up when the Titans’ last drive came up a yard short at the final gun. Burress’ 13-yard grab from Eli Manning was the difference for the Giants in their 17-14 triumph over the Patriots in SBXLII, and Holmes’ 6-yard tiptoe snag from Ben Roethlisberger gave the Steelers their 27-23 conquest of the Cardinals the next year. Those three will be featured in a video that my partner Eric Allen and the Jets multimedia team are producing for newyorkjets.com. It’ll be live in the coming days. John Taylor was the first WR to achieve this feat, for the Niners in SBXXIII. According to my sources, Taylor was not in Florham Park last week. That video op would have been truly Super. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JiFtheOracle Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 Sign Bruce and we'll have the baddest old man WR core ever!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sh4dy15 Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 Holy sh*t 6'8" 315 haha I forgot what a monster this guy was! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flgreen Posted August 10, 2011 Author Share Posted August 10, 2011 Holy sh*t 6'8" 315 haha I forgot what a monster this guy was! This guy was penciled in to be the starter last season before his injury. If he is 100% he should a really good #3 DE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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